Dragon Quest IX Q&A

Have you heard the shocking news yet? Dragon Quest IX is coming, not to the PS3 or Wii, but to the DS! Square Enix made the announcement at a press conference held in Tokyo earlier today.

In attendance at the conference were Square Enix president Yoichi Wada and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. The two suits fielded questions from the press on the announcement.

Iwata was asked to comment on the news of Dragon Quest's arrival on the DS. "More than the fact that Dragon Quest has returned (to Nintendo hardware)," said the Nintendo president, "I'm personally more impressed that it's being released on a portable machine. Portable gaming, which was in a corner of the gaming industry, has been moving into the main stream since about last year. This announcement has come as part of that trend, and I'm extremely pleased."

Square Enix's move to put the next numbered entry in the franchise on something other than the PlayStation brand has been taken by some to be a nod by the firm at Nintendo's recent business direction in comparison to Sony's. Iwata was asked to comment on the impression that the PlayStation management is trailing behind. "As we've stated before, we're not thinking about fighting Sony, but about how many people we can get to play games. The thing we're thinking about most is not portable systems, consoles, and so-forth, but that we want to get new people playing games."

Wada was asked the fundamental question: why bring DQIX to the DS? "We ended up bringing it to DS under the consideration that we want to deliver to as many people as possible a Dragon Quest that offers a new experience," explained the Square Enix boss.

And the big question that we're sure Wii owners have been wondering since the announcement: any plans for Wii connectivity? Wada fielded this one, stating, "We're making a product that uses the DS's wireless features. I don't believe there will be any connectivity with the Wii. Also, looking at the game design side of this new Dragon Quest IX, there won't be ports to other hardware."

So there you go. DS or bust for the next entry in Japan's most popular gaming franchise.